The First Katsudon
by Sabina-san
Summary: After winning Hot Springs on Ice, Yuri enjoys his first victory Katsudon with Victor and begins to open up to his idol.


The audience had finally cleared from the Ice Castle, the ghost of their roars of excitement still echoing throughout the building like a distant memory. Yuri's ears were still ringing from the reverberation of noise in the rink as he stood and zipped up the black track jacket he was wearing. He slung his backpack on to his back and left the locker room. The hallway to the exit was empty except for the slim figure of the man Yuri idolized - Victor Nikiforov. The aforementioned man was leaning against the wall, absorbed in his cell phone.

Yuri watched the man, a sense of surreality enveloping him like a thick blanket. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine that the man he long admired would take enough notice in him to be his couch. Yuri wondered what he had done to deserve having Victor in his life like this, and at the same time, he was doubtful that Victor would remain for long. Yuri hoped Victor would stay, and Yuri believed his performance today was enough to keep Victor for a little while longer.

Victor looked up from his phone and scanned the hallway. His ice blue eyes landed on Yuri, making the Japanese man tense every muscle in his body. A blush crept across his cheeks as Victor smiled and pushed himself off the wall.

"There you are! I was beginning to think you escaped out the back door."

Yuri shook his head slowly, his eyes widening with a little anxiety as Victor sauntered over to him. He gulped nervously, noticing that his hands were beginning to become damp with perspiration. "N-no...I just wanted some quiet. The rink was so loud during the event."

"You've kept your fans waiting! Come and greet them," Victor stated as he reached out and grasped Yuri's hand.

Yuri stumbled after briefly resisting Victor's pull, his anxiety skyrocketing. He could feel his heart hammering against his rib cage, and he knew it was partially from Victor's touch as well as the prospect of having to talk to people. He had just put his heart on the ice - had been vulnerable when he didn't want to be - and now all he wanted to do was hide from the perception that he would be negatively judged for his emotions. He opened his mouth to protest, his eyes flying up to the back of Victor's head. He was greeted with a questioning gaze from his coach. Victor slowed, loosened his grip, and fully turned to face Yuri.

"What is it?"

Yuri cast his eyes to the floor, letting his uncertainty show. "I...I just want to go home."

He could feel Victor's penetrating gaze on the top of his head, and Yuri's thoughts raced as he attempted to discern what Victor was thinking without looking at him. He was sure Victor was judging him for wanting to avoid any more attention. He began to wonder if Victor ever felt uncomfortable with the adulation of reporters and fans from all over the world. Victor always looked so at ease around others, and his appearances with the masses appeared effortless. Silence descended upon them for a minute or so before Yuri heard a little chuckle from Victor. He carefully raised his gaze to Victor's face and saw a comforting smile. It made Yuri blush.

"I'll be beside you. If you are feeling uncomfortable, give me a signal and I'll excuse us."

Yuri felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest, and he heaved a sigh. A small smile graced his lips. "Thanks. I-"

"Now let's go!"

Victor's previous enthusiasm took over, and Yuri was dragged down the remaining length of the hallway to the exit doors. They were flung open to a relatively small crowd. Many had been satisfied with Yuri's mini press conference on the ice following the event and had left. Yuri was temporarily blinded by the bright sunshine, and as his vision adjusted, he saw his family, Minako, Yuuko, Nishigori, and their three girls. Yuri smiled and waved at them. Others approached him, asking for autographs and photos. While going through the motions, Yuri kept thinking that the crowd was really only interested in him because Victor was there.

After about fifteen minutes, Victor could sense Yuri's unease, and it was confirmed when Yuri reached out briefly to a hand and squeezed it. With a final photo, Victor excused them from the crowd and pulled Yuri towards his family. Yuri felt relief spread through him, and for the second time in a short period of time, he sighed. The group made their way back to Yu-topia, the triplets talking about what they had witnessed in excited tones. They finally arrived, and Yuri immediately felt comfortable in his surroundings. He slid his shoes off in the entrance and stepped up into the inn. Makkachin came galloping through the room, running by Yuri and jumping up to greet Victor.

"Were you a good boy, Makkachin?" Victor cooed at his poodle. "Of course you were!"

"Why don't you go soak in the spring while I make you two something to eat?" Hiroko suggested.

Yuri nodded. "Thanks."

"I would like katsudon...and make sure you make one for Yuri too!" Yuri stopped short and turned to stare at his coach in disbelief. "You did win after all...you deserve it," Victor added with a wink.

Yuri could feel his heart soar. His smile was bright as he ran off to his room to deposit his belongings before taking off for the hot spring. He soaked for a little bit, his excitement shortening the amount of time he normally would have spent in its soothing waters. After feeling his body had warmed enough to effectively make him a radiator, Yuri vacated the hot spring and dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and sweat pants. When he came down to the dining room, he saw a table had been set for just him and Victor. Set across from each other were two katsudon. Yuri's mouth watered as he sat before a bowl.

Yuri was about to dig in when he realized that Victor wasn't around. He peered around the room and then decided to wait for his coach. As he made his survey, Yuri realized that the room was empty of any customers or family. It was as if they were affording the two some privacy, and Yuri's eyes widened at his next thought. _Oh...this feels like a date!_ His face flushed, and his body burned even hotter at that thought, and his mind came up with what seemed like a million reasons why this wasn't a date. _He's just my coach...it's not as if someone like Victor Nikiforov would ever be interested in someone like me in that way!_

Little flashes of Victor's first night at the inn invaded Yuri's mind, and his skin tingled with the memory of Victor's seductive touch sliding down his arm, his deep toned voice asking to get to know him. He remembered Victor's thumb on his lower lip and half lidded eyes in the ice rink after showing Yuri the choreography for Eros for the first time. He then thought he smelled a whiff of dark sandalwood tempered by the bitter coldness of the ice in the rink. These little memories served as evidence refuting Yuri's thought that Victor wasn't interested in him. It was clear that he was, but for the life of him, Yuri couldn't understand why. And he wasn't sure he wanted a relationship like that with Victor. How could someone so self-assured like someone so self-conscious and inexperienced as Yuri?

As these self-deprecating thoughts swirled in his mind, Yuri's gaze lingered on the katsudon, and the overwhelming urge to eat away his feelings drowned him. The dish smelled so good - the scent of fried pork, perfectly cooked egg, and the saltiness of soy sauce invaded his senses. He was about to forget waiting when Victor's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Thank you for waiting!"

Yuri gasped as his attention was drawn to Victor. He man was dressed in a casual track suit, Makkachin standing not far behind. With unconscious grace, Victor seated himself at the table across from Yuri. His gentle smile and sparkling eyes made Yuri blush again as he realized Victor's presence made it seem even more like a date than a celebration between coach and student. To avoid continuing to distress himself with his rampant musings, Yuri dug into the katsudon with his chopsticks.

The first morsel to cross his lips and land in his mouth was glorious. _Oh, how I've missed this!_ Yuri thought with a blissful exhale. He heard Victor's chuckle, but ignored it. He was too intent on enjoying his favorite dish. A few minutes passed in silence except for the noise of chopsticks scraping along the ceramic bowls as the pair enjoyed their treat. It gave Yuri a chance to continue to think upon his good fortune that the top figure skater in the world had decided to stay and coach him.

 _He chose me...but why?_ he wondered as his consumption of the delicious pork slowed. _I'm nothing special. Yurio showed how capable of a skater he is...and he's much more comfortable around Victor than I think I'll ever be..._

"Yuri..."

Yuri was abruptly pulled from his thoughts, and he turned his attention to his coach. Victor wore a serious expression, which made Yuri pale with apprehension.

"What are you thinking?"

"N-n-nothing! I-I-"

Victor's smile was ironic as he spoke over Yuri's halting exclamations. "You're a terrible liar, do you know that?"

Yuri paused as his mind registered what Victor had said. He had been gentle while being blunt, and it was this conscientious tone that Yuri had learned was Victor's way of lessening the blow of his words. Despite Victor's care in the way he spoke, Yuri still felt he was being judged and found wanting. He immediately felt ashamed and averted his gaze.

"Come on...our coaching relationship resumes today, and I want to keep it moving forward. I can't make a good coach if I don't get to know you," Victor wheedled in an encouraging manner.

The statement hung between them. Victor waited patiently for Yuri to start talking about anything. Yuri was battling with himself. To him, Victor was perfect in every way. Yuri could overlook Victor's frankness because he knew how to temper it, but otherwise, he couldn't find any other faults. Meanwhile, Yuri could name a thousand shortcomings within himself, and he knew he could never compare to this man - no, _god_ \- sitting before him. He felt the quiet pressing heavily between them, and Yuri raised his eyes to make contact with Victor's in order to break free from its clutches.

"Tell me something...please," Yuri almost whispered.

"What?"

"Why did you choose me?"

Yuri tried so hard to keep his uncertainty out of his voice, but he heard the waiver in it, which meant Victor did to. Victor hummed before responding, setting his chopsticks across his nearly empty bowl.

"Let me begin by asking you a question."

"Okay..."

"What were you thinking while you skated this afternoon?"

Yuri was taken aback by the inquiry. He went through his memories of his performance at the Ice Castle - the one that stuck out the most was his Quadruple Salchow that he touched the ice on. He visibly winced at the image conjured in his mind, but he tried to ignore it as he focused on what else had happened. He began to talk as he reviewed the performance. "Umm...well...I knew who I was finally skating for."

"And who was that?"

Victor's eyes sparkled like he already knew the answer but just needed to hear it from his young student.

"You," Yuri whispered. There was a pause before he barreled on once more, speaking slightly louder and quicker. "I wanted to seduce you...to show you that I was better than anyone else out there and show you why. You see, I had made up this story about the song...about a playboy coming to town to seduce the most beautiful woman. Last night, I realized that being the playboy...that's not me. So...I decided that I needed to entice you by being the beautiful woman." Another short pause, feeling embarrassed by his confession. "I know it sounds stupid..."

Victor shook his head. "Not at all. I'm glad because it means you really wanted this."

Yuri nodded as a blush deepened on his cheeks. "Do you?"

Victor appeared shocked at the question. "Why would you ask something like that?"

"Because you promised to return to Russia with Yurio if he won!" Yuri blurted out in a panic.

Realization dawned on Victor's face and he smiled as he shook his head in slight exasperation. "We really do have to work on that confidence of yours. If I hadn't wanted to stay and coach you, I wouldn't have flown out here to Japan from St. Petersburg before Hot Springs on Ice. I agreed to Yurio's terms because that's what he wanted."

"So, that leads me back to my original question. Why did you choose me?"

"It's you, Yuri," Victor affirmed. "It was the way you asked me to be your coach." Yuri looked confused, and Victor elaborated with a laugh. "Yurio is only interested in me as a skater and what I can offer him in terms of a coaching relationship. I don't think he would take me seriously at all. It would be a constant battle with a student who only wants to win. He gets nothing else from skating except for the burning desire to be the best."

Yuri snorted in agreement. "Yeah...I got that."

"But you...you said you wanted to win so you could eat katsudon with me. In that simple statement, you made me hope that there were people out there that were interested in getting to know the real Victor Nikiforov...not just the Victor Nikiforov the skating world knows."

Yuri was speechless. He had no idea that his desire to eat katsudon had such deep meaning for his coach.

"So! I look forward to getting to know you as we work on your programs for the Grand Prix! Tomorrow, we'll start with cleaning up your Short Program and working on that Quad Sal!"

Yuri blanched when he remembered all of the critiques Victor had given him on the ice. Victor laughed as he picked up his chopsticks once more and polished off his katsudon. He set his chopsticks aside and looked over at Yuri's nearly empty bowl.

"I hope you enjoyed that...it'll be some time before you can eat another one!"

Yuri slumped over the table with a groan, but with his face hidden from Victor, he smiled. His heart was pounding quickly as adrenaline surged through his body, making his fingers and toes tingle. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have _the_ Victor Nikiforov as his coach, and the realization made him believe that maybe he was more than just a dime-a-dozen figure skater.


End file.
